Chairperson, government provides social grants to 15,3 million beneficiaries; this constitutes about 30% of the population of South Africa. Numerous research studies, including those by the World Bank, have praised the stance of the South African government, of expanding social assistance to the poor, and they continue to cite our programme as exemplary. Notwithstanding the well-documented positive impact of social grants, many South Africans continue to express concern about its sustainability. I am convinced that we are all in agreement that the best way out of poverty is through employment. However, those who argue that we must create jobs and not dependency must sincerely acknowledge the absurdity of their assertion that we must create jobs for our target groups, because our target groups, as social development, are children, the disabled and older persons.